Though I’ve lived in South Florida for over two decades, I grew up and spent most of my young adulthood in Southern California. I loved that state back then and if push came to shove, I’d still declare myself a Southern California “Girl.” (The Beach Boys’ influence lives on.) But when driving those beautiful, wide-laned freeways was more a chore than a pleasure, and my brakes wore out twice as fast as they used to, I knew I was being {Read More}
Keeping Heads Above Water: Hurricane Survivors
September 13, 2019 by
I continue to contemplate about how horrible Hurricane Dorian was to the people, animals, and environment of the Bahamas. I am a Southern Californian now living, and most likely remaining, in South Florida, and I’ve been through both earthquakes and hurricanes. Both are frightening, and both get more devastating in tandem with strength. Hurricane Irma was the worst I’d been through and it was a category 3. My seven dogs and I were trapped in a friend’s hurricane proof house {Read More}
The Humane Society of Grand Bahamas Hurricane Dorian Devastation
September 5, 2019 by
I have been friends with Tip Burrows for well over a decade. Tip is the hard working director of the Humane Society of the Grand Bahamas and is now facing massive clean-up and picking up the pieces that Hurricane Dorian left behind. We were very lucky to have been spared from Hurricane Dorian’s wrath in Florida, so if you can find it in your heart to donate anything to help Tip, her staff, and shelter volunteers, five of which lost {Read More}
Protect The Hand That Feeds The Dog
August 9, 2019 by
When a dog takes a food reward, if he doesn’t take it gently, it’s no fun for the person giving the food. I think we’d all agree it’s important that a do takes food gently from our hands, and most importantly, leaves our fingers intact. No toothy indentations on the palm or fingers is also a good thing. Generally speaking, if we deliver a food reward from the palm of our hand instead of with our fingers, the do is {Read More}
Dog Training – Consistency Counts
July 31, 2019 by
When training a dog of any age, what is important, above all, is to be consistent. Let’s take an example. You want to keep Pooch off the furniture. Twenty-three out of twenty-four hours, you enforce the rule. But somewhere in the 24th hour, you’re watching TV and decide to invite Pooch up on the sofa with you while you watch your favorite TV show. You have entered a gray area while dogs have a black-and-white understanding. So when Pooch decides {Read More}
Testing Dog Obedience Cues
July 27, 2019 by
Once you’ve taught your dog a behavior, add distractions slowly, so the dog can perform the behavior when faced with a better option. For example, my two Dobermann and our boarder Doodle were out for exercise this afternoon, and my girl, Emilie, was the first to notice one of our marauding gopher tortoise friends along the fence line. She went into stealth mode and slowly crept up on it. This was a hard maneuver to watch without breaking out into {Read More}
Food Rewards From The Trainer and The Sky
July 13, 2019 by
When you are working on eliciting a certain behavior from your dog, you’ll want to reward it around the clock. For example, the dog who jumps up for attention. When he approaches and keeps four paws on the ground, that’s big news and time to praise and reward. But we can’t always have food handy in our pockets, so make sure to keep small, tightly sealed containers of dog training food around the house. When your dog is offering a {Read More}
Use a Variety of Food For Training Dogs
July 8, 2019 by
When training your dog, or maintaining the training when your dog comes home from a customized Love Wags A Tail board-and-train boot camp, be sure to have a wide variety of food rewards at your disposal. Why? Because when you are competing against bigger distractions, you need an outstanding food reward your dog will focus. Otherwise, his focus will wander off on the distraction. He will work to get the reward that appeals to him at any time: whether it {Read More}
Reward Good Behavior To Get Good Behavior
May 29, 2019 by
Behaviors that you like from your dog or puppy need to be rewarded not ignored. For example, when your puppy approaches and sits in front of you, load him up with praise and goodies. Food is especially rewarding. Tell your dog how great he is. Because if all you do is notice the naughty behaviors, you’ll get more of that. I have watched clients push their dogs and puppies off them over and over again when the animal jumps up. {Read More}
Remembering My Dobermann Pippin
February 24, 2019 by
Pippin was a sweet and the smallest of my Dobermann. I adopted her from the Miami Dade animal shelter in 2003. She was part of my family for twelve years and passed away on this day, February 24, in 2015. She was 12 years old then, so she would have been 16 years old today had I been so lucky to have her still. I post my dogs birthdays in my Google calendar so I’m emailed reminders. Most birthdays I {Read More}
Dog Training With Your Valentine
February 14, 2019 by
Today is St. Valentine’s Day and as far as I’m concerned, there’s no better way to share unconditional love than with your dog. They’re always ready with a wag of their tails for a new adventure. Here’s a sweet Labrador Retriever puppy who is a recent graduate of the Love Wags A Tail puppy board-and-train program giving us his all. Speaking of love, he had plenty to give and he also loved training. Of course, we offer some very tasty {Read More}
The Secret Board-and-Train Dog Training Food Recipe
February 1, 2019 by
Contact me at 954-768-9696 for your dog’s or puppy’s training because I train dogs humanely using the most delicious motivation that entices them to want to do what I ask! Dogs and puppies are encouraged and loved when they board and train with me. And they do incredible feats as a result. Food IS the big thing that I use to train your pet. You will then have, upon his or her return, a happy dog who will offer behaviors {Read More}
Calling a Dog To Come
January 22, 2019 by
One of the common behaviors I am asked to train dogs and puppies during their Love Wags A Tail board-and-train program is to come when called. This is a behavior I start working on generally on day one and continue it until the drop-off dog training lesson when I bring the boot camp puppy home. My most recent board-and-train is no exception. He is a very lively, creative, and playful 6-month-old Chocolate Labrador Retriever. Romeo’s one of the happiest pups {Read More}
Intrinsic Puppy Play
January 13, 2019 by
Puppies can be very creative when they play. A lot of their behaviors are unique to their youthful curiosity and fade as they mature and heed their training. That’s good in some instances, such as shoe chewing, grabbing anything they can reach off nose-level counters, or shredding linens. Puppies need a lot of overseeing. For example, things can get dangerous if they find a plugged-in cord to be interesting. And Puppies can find cord-like items interesting. My own puppy, who {Read More}
Coral Springs Board-and-Train Dog Jake Exercising
January 3, 2019 by
Jake is a Coral Springs Florida board-and-train student who enrolled in a Love Wags A Tail board-and-train program in the summer of his puppyhood. He returns to train and board from Coral Springs, FL, as a brush-up boot camp when his family goes on vacation. We love it when Jake, the German Dutch Shepherd boy visits. My own dogs love to run and play with Jake. Here is a sample of the good workout Jake got during his recent visit. {Read More}
